The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-07-20

the Norman conquest. But in the
thirteenth century the cruciform shape was
/ given it, 1t is no feet long; the breadth
across the transcpt is 100 feet, and the
! height Of the spira is 230 feet. There are
marks of remarkable talent III the long ago
days in it's decorated style and delicate
] tracery The proportions of the church are
| Justly balanced and would have, if not for
the spire, a most symmetrical and har-
lnoniUuS effect, but the citizens who hayo
| for n generation grown up within the
shadow of the twisted spire oflead-coyered
| TIMBER know better than to sacrifice it on
the altar of symmetry. The steeple with
| its groteSqucs, ridges, and fieckS OF black
and grey, and white, may be ugly to some
| eyes: but even as mother lavishes her ten
dcrcst love upon her deformed child, so the
| people of Chesterfield are sensitive about
the crooked steeple, and see beauty in its
shape, although it may be an architectural
singuiurity" Singular ii is in appearance.
1t was built of wood and covered over with
lead to shelter it from the storm and sun.
Mr.. Cox, in his history of old churches, says
the singing pressure of the lead may have
caused an irregular subsistence in the tim
bers, which also have been powerfully
warped by the sun beating through the lead
on the green paint on the woodwork. The tim
bers are almost displaced and twisted from
their original position on the south side, the
side most exposed to its rays 1t is twisted
until it looks like a cOrkscrew. | made an
ascent into its towers and saw the twisted
tilnbers, and was astonished to know what
kept it in its place. Some local poet ex-
presses the scene graphically:
whichever way you turn your eye
1t always seems to be aWry;
Pray, can you tell the reason why?
The only reason known Of weight
Is that the thing never straight,
nd .-Ii u etp ret Az ha
An emblem of defOrmity."
SOME OF THE MOST EMINENT ARCHITECTS
on the continent have examined it, but no
satisfactory conclusion has ever been
reached as to how it became twisted. About
eighty years ago the people living near the
church became alarmed, thinking the old
steeple was about to fall. That generation
has passed away and the crooked steeple
still bears the fiercest storms and shows no
more signs of giving away than it did 100
years ago
Chesterfield contains the largest tobacco
factory in the United Kingdom. II is sur
rounded by large number of coal mines,
which employ thousands of hands, and
every morning the slumbers of this Ameri-
can pilgrim are disturbed by the everlasting
clamOr of the GOLFERS clogs as they rush
over the stony pavements on their way to
work every morning at o'clock. Fifty of
these golfers, with their heavy shoes on,
make noise equal to troop of horses on
turnpike road.
The streets of Chesterfield, like the steeple,
are twisted fearfully. They We're all made
to converge to one point-the market place.
This spot has drank in more blood than that
of bulls and goats, for many hard conflict
in early days took place here, when some of
the best of English blood was spilled. The
people are courteous and hospitable, both
of which the American pilgrims have
shared.
SAM LEREVE